Friday; November 26

You might have noticed a theme during our times together this week. My goal this Thanksgiving Week has been to highlight some things for which I am thankful. As I entered the week, I realized that thanksgiving is more than a day – it is an attitude. Since I am the one who gets to control my attitude, then I get to pick just how thankful I am going to be. I am sick and tired of being sick and tired – I think I like being thankful better – and I am the only one who can make that happen.

One of the challenges I have faced over the last few years is an appreciation for the nation in which we live. Whether it is a disappointment in leaders or feeling disheartened at social and political developments, I have struggled with appreciating our country. As I have been thinking about things this week, I have come to realize we are blessed. We have good people doing good things. We have a say in the way our government is being run. We have an affluence and the freedom that is the envy of most of the rest of the world. For the most part, we can work together with our friends and neighbors – and even with our opponents – to fix those areas we find amiss. No, our nation isn’t perfect, but it’s still a pretty good place to be.
As we finish up this Thanksgiving Week, I want to thank you for being my fellow citizens. I appreciate what you do to provide an infrastructure that allows me to enjoy my life. Thank you for smiling and waving when you see me and for being tolerant when I don’t fulfill my end of the social agreement of being a good neighbor. Thanks for proving that, together, we can do good and find the success to make us all better.

Think About It!

Popular posts from this blog

Thursday; May 3

I have a fish tank that allows my three Bettas (Larry, Darrell and Darrell) to live in the same structure, but remain hidden from each other – well sort of.   When I go to feed the fish, I believe that one of the Darrell’s can sort of see that the other Darrell is getting fed and he will linger over on that side of the tank even after I put his food in his tank.   I have to tap on the side of the tank where his food is floating to help him refocus and eat.   I get the impression that he is so interested in what is going on in the other Darrell’s tank that he can’t enjoy his own food. I have been told that the brain of a fish is pretty small – which explains their inability to process “blessings”, but are we guilty of the same malady as Darrell?   Are we so worried (or consumed) by what happens to the people around us that we fail to realize what is going on with us?   Are we envious of the blessings that others are receiving and end up missing out on what we have been given?   Are w
Read more

Thursday; February 14

         While most of us are familiar with today being Valentine’s Day, there are some who actually refer to February 14 th as “St. Valentine’s Day”.  This title is often affixed to a criminally historic event known as “The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre” on February 14, 1929 in Chicago, but that is another story for another time.  Not knowing much about the history of “Saint Valentine” I did a little research and found out he was a Roman religious leader who was martyred in 269 AD.  According to my limited research Valentine was killed because of his encouragement of Roman men (especially soldiers) to marry which was in violation of Claudias’ edict that prohibited marriage to keep their minds singularly focused on their task of defending the Empire.  Somehow, from this beginning – and possibly embellished by Chaucer – St. Valentine became intertwined with the concept of romantic love.           I am not really sure how February 14 th became connected with love, but inspired by thi
Read more

Wednesday; December 6

What does it mean to be a leader? I subscribe to the belief that a leader is someone who seeks the best for others and works with them to achieve their potential. There are others; however, who define leadership as the ability to have a vision and the tenacity to get their own way. Leaders who are this way are often portrayed as having developed the maturity to manipulate people to do things their way. However, is the ability to drive people in our direction mature or is it childish? The Christians of the 1st Century came from a lot of different backgrounds and had to work hard to work together. As the Apostle Paul challenged Christians in the city of Ephesus he challenged them to accept individual differences, “… until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. “ (Ephesians 4:13). Bossiness was not to be viewed as a sign of maturity, a willingness to wo
Read more